- WPP shares have more than halved in 2025 as performance deteriorates
FTSE 100 advertising firm WPP has shed 7,000 jobs in the last year as the artificial intelligence revolution forces the sector though a tumultuous transition.
WPP and many of its rivals have seen trade come under significant pressure over the last two years, as clients have slashed marketing spend and new AI tools have enabled more businesses to create their own marketing campaigns.
The group, which cut annual guidance after a further deterioration of performance last month, has been hit by client losses and a greater exposure to China than rivals.
In response, WPP has increasingly invested in its own AI capabilities.
WPP’s total headcount is down 3.7 per cent since the start of the year, while its total staff costs are down by 7.5 per cent compared to the first half of 2024 at £3.7billion.
The firm’s global workforce shrank to 104,000 by the end of June, down from 111,000.
Roughly 1,400 of the total 7,000 decline comes from WPP’s sale of FGS Global late last year.
It came as reported operating profits plummeted 47.8 per cent year-on-year to £221million, as revenues slumped 7.8 per cent to around £6.7billion after suffering declines in every business segment and every geography it operates in.
WPP told investors it expects second quarter job losses alone to generate more than £150million of annualised gross cost savings from 2026, while it would continue to back its push into AI.
It said: ‘We continue to prioritise investment in WPP Open, AI and data including the integration of new AI tools into WPP Open, driving day-to-day productivity improvements for our people.
‘AI, data and technology are central to the way we serve our clients and continue to drive increased scope of work with existing clients. It is also supporting our new business activity.’
Outgoing boss Mark Read, who will be replaced by former Microsoft UK chief Cindy Rose next month, acknowledged a ‘challenging first half given pressures on client spending and a slower new business environment’
Inbound boss Rose worked at Microsoft for nine years and her appointment is seen as part of the firm’s recent enthusiasm for advanced tech.
Read added: ‘Throughout my seven years as CEO, technological innovation has been a constant and I believe that thanks to our investment in AI we can look to the future with confidence.’
WPP – which owns agencies such as Ogilvy and VML – kept guidance unchanged from last month’s downgrade, but halved its interim dividend to 7.5p per share.
WPP shares were down 3.9 per cent to to 386.5p in early trading, having more than halved since the start of the year.
Victoria Scholar, head of investment at Interactive Investor said: ‘WPP faces an uphill battle amid the macroeconomic uncertainty and after the loss of some major clients.
‘Winning new business has been challenging and its share price has struggled as a result – Publicis overtook WPP to become the world’s largest ad agency last year
‘[Rose’s] tech background will be valuable to WPP which is trying to navigate a rapidly changing ad landscape with the swift ascent of very high-quality AI content that risks cannibalising WPP’s core offering.
‘WPP hopes that Rose will lead the company to integrate AI in a way that boosts its business, rather than having AI steal it.’
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